


Resolutions To Keep

by quizzletriangle3



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M, New Year's Resolutions, Rare Pair, cutie-pies, that I love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 19:09:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3261104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quizzletriangle3/pseuds/quizzletriangle3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Romano, a simple curator, just wants to get this stupid teacher's party over with and appease his brother's nagging about Romano's apparent need for a life. It's just another year, another one alone, right?</p>
<p>And then there's Alfred, an American History teacher that just started working for his new school and was invited to a New Year's party. Of course he'll go, impress his co-workers, have a few laughs, nothing too drastic, you know?</p>
<p>The party itself is very simple though. You write down your resolutions, and show them to get in and speak with the other attendees at the party. Who could've guessed that showing your resolutions could start both conversation and love?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Resolutions To Keep

**Author's Note:**

> It's still January, right? Not too late, eh?

Romano's List:

_Stop blushing_

_Swear less_

_Remember to clean behind your ears_

"Take this seriously, brother." Feliciano was pouting behind his shoulder.

"Meh," muttered Romano.

_Remember your keys more, maybe get a hook for it._

"Better." Romano rolled his eyes, then continued:

_Be more enjoyable. Enjoy more._

_Stop getting banned from playgrounds and kid's zones._

_Stop telling people about that. They think you're a pedophile. (There are only so many places you can get exercise and the gym is not a fuckin' option!)_

_Visit Rome._

_Admit you're gay._

_And don't let that stop you._

_Get a fuckin' date. (And yeah, with a guy, it's about time you tried.)_

_But don't let being alone scare you. Embrace being single. Don't let yourself feel bad about your lack of love._

_Be more, you. But still allow good change._

"Remember you're worth it!"

_"FELICIANO! STOP READING MY **FUCKING** LIST, DAMMIT!"_

"Ooh, rough start for number two..."

"God, fucking, gah...".

 

Alfred: The computer screen stared back at Alfred's already strained eyes, blank. Then he just went with it.

 

 

**Eat healthier.**

**Actually, just fucking eat.**

**Remind myself to do that. A.K.A. Stop, having Mattie remind me all the time.**

**Visit the Final Three. You know, the last three states before you've been to all fifty! (Took me long enough, hm?)**

**Read more. Like, books.**

**Be the best teacher you can be.**

**Cook homemade meals more.**

**Try vegan for a week.**

**Tell overly Christian parents you are not straight. And tell them all those girlfriends were guys...**

**(Make/sign a will...)**

**Try Italian.**

**And German, that sounds good. Somewhat.**

**Most of all: BEAT MATTIE AT HOCKEY!!!!!!**

**Put that last one on next year's resolutions list, too. Hahaha.**

 

                                                                              

 

Oi!" Romano called up the stairs, waiting at the bottom step for his brother. "You almost ready, fuckwad?"

"Oh, Romano, your resolutions!" Feliciano cried in response as he showed his head over the railing.

"It's not the new year yet, dumbass." He replied, throwing a pair of socks up to the other to help him finally _finish_. "Besides," he continued. "I wrote swear _less_ , not stop entirely."

His brother tisked as he struggled to put the socks onto his feet. "It's the principle of it, fratello."

"Whatever, you're just lucky I agreed to go to this stupid teacher thing of yours." Romano retorted.

"It's a New Year's party," his brother corrected. "And you need to get out more, that should've been on your list."

" _That should've been on my list_ ," Romano mimicked.

"Speaking of which," Feliciano continued through his brother's banter. "Do you still have it on you?"

"No," was Romano's suspicious reply.

"Well get it." Feliciano said, finally coming down the stairs in a flattering dress shirt and simple black slacks. "You need to show it to get in."

"Hold up!" Romano shouted. "What the fuck do you mean I need that list to get in?" He demanded.

"I mean you need to show it to get in, why do you think I had you make that list?" His brother retorted. "For shits and giggles?" Well, wasn't _someone_ going to be extra sassy this new year.

"Um, yeah?" He sassed back.

Feliciano just rolled his eyes while _simultaneously_ flipping that obnoxious curl from his face. Probably to purposely piss Romano off further. "Tch." Was his small reply.

"Do you talk to your students that way?" Romano questioned, slightly pouting with his thin brows furrowed, arms crossed in defense. "Because that is fucked up teaching if your answer is yes."

"No, my students are smarter than that." His brother answered. "Now get your list, we don't wanna be late."

"I put personal shit on that list!" Romano shouted, blushing with anxiety. "Like, actual goals!"

"Good," Feliciano replied. "You took it seriously. Like I asked. Now get the list I helped you make and a coat, we need to go."

"Was grow a pair on your list, because damn." Romano muttered, hands up in surrender as his brother got their car's keys. Feli shook the keys impatiently. "Just go start the car, I'll be there in a minute." Romano yelled from their house's living room. "I'll be out in a minute!"

"I'll be counting!" Feliciano shouted back, walking out the front door and giving Romano a bit to collect his stuff. And collect his stuff he needed a few minutes for indeed, he popped his anxiety medication and put the bottle in his right pocket, along with his stupid list. It was a good thing Feliciano gave him five minutes to get his coat on before blaring the car horn, because Romano had his hand on the doorknob thinking about how screwed he was for making such a stupid and sentimental resolutions list.

 

                                                                                    

 

"What do you wear to a New Year's party hosted by a fellow teacher at your new school?" Alfred asked himself. But he still got a reply for it:

"I don't know but hurry up." His cousin, Matthew, said, watching the tall blond stand shirtless in front of his open closet door, a wide array of clothes staring back.

"Gee, that's helpful! Thanks Matt." Al said sarcastically, not looking away from the two button downs he was holding.

"The light blue then, Al!" His cousin sighed. This had been going on for over an hour and the party started about ten minutes ago.

"Are you sure?"

"You're not going to have to wear it at all if you don't hurry." Matthew reasoned.

"True," Alfred responded, the long-sleeved shirt finally covering up his upper body. "Now which tie?"

Exasperated and swearing, Matthew went up to the closet, pushed his cousin aside, and grabbed a plain straight and black tie. He forced it into Alfred's hands and walked out the door. "You're really gay sometimes, you know that?" He shouted back, teasing Al about his extreme care for appearance.

"It's about time someone recognized it." Was his cousin's reply, heading down the hallway behind him. After reaching the end, Matthew turned to take in Al's attire. It was a light blue button down tucked into skinny black khakis, the simple black tie Matthew thrusted upon him tied neatly around his neck. The outfit really brought out the blue in his eyes and made his smile seem friendlier.

"Nice," he stated, straightening his own galaxy print necktie, the fabric suiting the black of his own button down. His tan slacks weren't as tight as Al's, but they still gave his ass a nice view space. Matthew was just a bit buffer than Alfred, but both their shirts hugged the muscles they had nicely, Matthew's sleeves rolled up mid-way to show off his forearms. "Let's go, we're already late." He checked his watch again, fifteen minutes since the party began, great.

"Let me get my keys!" Alfred shouted, only one sleeve of his dress jacket on, his coat in his other hand.

Matthew jingled the keys on their chain before Alfred could make it to his special key hook, walking out the apartment door and abandoning his cousin to struggle with his coat while he went to start up the car.

"Wait!" Alfred called out, rushing with his coat and barely remembering to shut the door on his way out.

He didn't wait.

 

                                                                                     

 

They were a half hour late, and they could hear thumping from their car on the street. _This_ was a _teacher's_ party? Thought Al.

When they got to the door, Arthur, the student's 'favourite' English teacher, answered. He seemed happy enough to see Alfred and his company despite their lateness. "Come in," he had told them warmly after they showed their lists, stepping aside and giving them a glimpse of almost every teacher in Alfred's district along with other guests and what looked like.... students.

"I thought we couldn't invite students to private events?" Alfred shouted over the music to Arthur, leaning so the man could hear him.

He smirked before his reply. "They've graduated!" His voice boomed in return. Alfred's grimace got a laugh out of Arthur. "Most of them are in grad school, calm down." Clapping the younger's shoulder, he walked away, into the dim and pulsing music drowning a majority of the conversations.

"This is weird!" Matthew shouted in his cousin's ear.

"Yeah, I know."

"Wanna go to the basement?" Matthew asked, pointing to a wooden door beside a set of stairs on the other side of the room.

"That's a basement?" Alfred asked.

Matthew shrugged. "I'm guessing. But it looks quiet and less weird, wanna try it?"

Alfred didn't even reply in his hurry to the door.

 

                                                                                       

 

It was quieter when they closed the door, muffled music shut out behind them. "Well this is nicer." Matthew noted. Alfred looked around them as they walked down the curved stairs. There was pale yellow paint on the tight walls, hugging nicely carpeted stairs that Alfred felt bad to walk down in shoes.

When they got to the bottom, they found a finished basement that was just the doorway and an expanded back with another door on the far right wall. Probably a closet. But on the left was a bar. A nice bar. With a mirror on the wall behind it, shelves full of alcohol placed behind the smooth wood. There was a man with a short ponytail behind the counter, serving the maybe ten or so people down there, all dispersed around the room. Alfred knew the bartender as the French teacher, other more quiet teachers were milling about, a few on the couch, some against the plain walls, all holding beautifully made drinks and talking softly against the calm jazz playing overhead.

The thudding beat from upstairs went practically unheard, Alfred noted, feet sinking into the plush carpet below him. He noticed a brunet staring at him and didn't recognize him as a part of the district, maybe he was a grad?

"Is this even the same house?" He asked aloud, Matthew nodding in agreement as he admired the simple decor.

Francis, the ironically named bartender, laughed as he reached for some glasses. "I know. Arthur and I share the house and he thought his party idea was better." He said this while shaking his head and a mixer. "His idea is an abomination, but I got the basement." He winked at Matthew. "Drink?" He poured the concoction into a martini glass, holding up the offer to the men still standing at the foot of the stairs.

Shrugging, they walked over to the bar, Matthew getting the drink before Alfred could. He pouted as his cousin sipped the drink before his face. Francis laughed and started to make another drink, talking to Matthew the whole time. The two got acquainted easily, ignoring Alfred once the martini was made.

Alfred looked around, leaning against the wood and sipping the warming liquid. Everyone had returned to their hushed tones once the other men got their drinks, paying attention only to themselves. All except one, who held what looked like a soda in one hand, his phone in the other. The man looked like the one who was staring at him before. So, almost finishing his drink, Alfred walked over so he wouldn't be alone this new year.

 

                                                                                       

 

Reading and editing Wikipedia entries had become a hobby for Romano at parties. It made it look like he was texting people while he correctly enlightened curious others. It also prevented people from coming near him, something he highly favored seeing as how generally terrifying people were. Sadly, it didn't seem to stop the blond that slid on the wall space next to him.

It was the same blond he was admir- watching, come down the stairs.

And he had a really nice face and blue eyes.

Ones that were looking over his shoulder to his phone right at this moment...

Romano jerked to the side a little, hissing, "Can I _help_ you?"

"Who're ya texting?" He asked, eyebrows furrowed in polite confusion.

Romano paused too long while he thought of a snarky reply. He needed to take more pills, soon. This was just his normal anxiety, right? "No one." He answered, looking down at his shoes and pocketing the phone.

The blond raised an eyebrow, scooting closer to the small man. "Then what were you-?"

"I don't know your name or have seen your list, so I don't need to reply." Romano stated robotically.

The blond smiled at him, a stupid, soft smile that was almost endearing. "Alfred, I teach history at the high school." Romano perked up at the mention of history. "Here's my list, almost forgot you had to show it to new people." Alfred fumbled for a piece of paper, handing it to Romano gently. "What about you?" He asked as the other looked over the paper.

"Hm?" Romano hummed. "Oh," he muttered, looking up into those soft blue eyes before him. "Um, I'm a curator, for the city's art and history museum."

He returned his attention to the list. "You've visited 47 states?" He asked, looking back up.

Alfred's eyes lit up, obviously excited to have an excuse to talk about his travels. "Yeah!" Then he deflated a little, a coy smile playing with his lips. "But I don't have to tell you until you show me your list, tell me your name, and why you're here at a teacher's party." He held up a finger for each piece of information listed. Damn his coy smile!

Romano rolled his eyes and looked back to the other's list, anxiety clawing at his mind. "It's in my pocket." His eyes returned to the paper before him but read nothing as the other dug through his pocket for the list.

When he took it out, he took Romano's pills with him. Romano's eyes widened and his body refused to move as his heart raced. "Zoloft, isn't this anxiety medication?" Alfred asked, showing Romano his own bottle.

Quickly he looked around and, seeing that no one was watching, shoved the container back in his pocket after ripping it out of Alfred's hand.

"Yeah, so?" He gulped. He tried to take the list too, but Alfred held it back.

"So nothing, just curious." He said calmly, looking over the paper at hand. Romano looked over his shoulder as he read. "This is a really nice list." Alfred smiled. Then he laughed, eyebrows raising in his mirth. "Why would you write. Heh, sorry. Why would you say stop telling people about the playground thing! Right after writing about it?!" He was wheezing and hunched over. _He didn't know other people would be reading his fucking list!_ Romano blushed furiously and tried to explain it was to work out, not stalk kids.

"Why do you work out there?" Alfred asked, controlling his snickers.

"The gym makes me nervous," Romano admitted. He didn't want to embarrass himself like this in front of someone who was basically a stranger. An especially decent stranger at that.

"Really?" He looked back to the list in his hands. "Never thought of going to a playground though."

"I meant like a park," Romano defended. "For jogging."

Alfred hummed along, his eyes stopped on one piece of resolution. He kept looking back at Romano to the list, making Romano's heart race from what he hoped were nerves. "You're gay?" His blue eyes stared into hazel, Romano's Adam's apple jerking up and down.

"Maybe," he squeaked. "So?" Romano was starting to shout.

"Nah, I am too. It's on my list see? Come out to my parents." Alfred held up his hands in defense, leaning his face close to Romano's to quiet him down. "Calm down, you're hyperventilating."

Romano realized he was right and calmed his breathing. "Oh," he muttered. Looking back at the list he saw Alfred was telling the truth, it was the resolution right before-

"Do you have some strange kinks listed on your resolutions?"

"What?"

"Try Italian." Romano pressed his finger to the list. "And German, are you collecting ethnic boyfriends?" He smirked, eyebrow raised, as Alfred turned red. "Is that what you're doing, hitting on a poor Italian?"

"WHAT?!" He was completely scarlet now. "Wha- no! No! Nononono! I meant the food!" He shouted.

Romano laughed, actually laughed. It made Alfred get a sheepish look on his face, blush still blotchy and present. "Good. I thought you were coming on to me." He chided.

Alfred just continued to stutter. "Just because we're both gay..." He murmured.

That just got Romano bent over himself laughing. At some point they were holding each other up as they laughed. As he collected his breath, Romano asked what was bothering him since Alfred found his medication. "Why didn't you, I don't know, ignore me after you saw my..." He motioned to his pocket.

"Why would I ignore you?" Alfred looked hurt.

"Because I'm a mess."

"Don't say that."

"Why, it's true."

"First off," Alfred grabbed his arm with one hand, cupping his chin with other to make him look at him. God, his poor heart was racing too fast. "No, it's not. Second," Alfred got closer, so close Romano could see the different shades of blue in Alfred's irises. He took a small breath. "That's offensive to everyone else who takes that stuff. My cousin takes that, and no one should ignore him or you because of your medication."

Romano wanted to argue. A lot. But he figured he couldn't fight with this guy, and he didn't want to, especially since he seemed like he actually wanted to be _by_ Romano. And _talk_ to him. So he nodded and apologized. "Don't do that." Alfred told him.

"Do what?"

"Apologize."

"Why not?" His eyebrow quirked.

"It's not your fault you have anxiety."

Romano left out the fact he got like this because of so much work, but that didn't matter, because they kept on talking about their resolutions and lives like that moment hadn't happened. Or, maybe, it had brought them together...

 

                                                                                         

 

Hours had passed and midnight was getting closer.

 

 

"No seriously! Kid said he licked the urinal cake for sixty-three cents!" Alfred practically shouted.

 

 

But they didn't seem to notice.

 

"And then the little bastard tried to pee on the next stand!" And Alfred burst into laughter.

"Hey, do you need your pills?" Alfred asked Romano, catching his breath.

Romano shook his head, smiling. _Not since you got here_...

 

Until the countdown....

 

Everyone was shouting around the house, counting down from ten. The pair looked around themselves from their little corner, Romano seeing his brother bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, holding the hands of a tall, blond man. "Is that your brother?" Alfred asked, pointing at the excited man on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, he's an art teacher!" He shouted in reply. Alfred nodded. Five more seconds till another new year... Romano thought.

Then he felt hands sneak around his waist, turning him to face Alfred, pressing their chests flush against one another. The blond leaned toward him, foreheads touching as the seconds passed. "Happy New Year," he whispered, tilting their heads slightly and pressing their lips together.

All around them, people screamed and shouted for the new year, kissing and toasting each other in celebration.

When Romano could finally breath again, his lips were still pecked, the two men laughing in the new year. "Can I see you again, after this?" Alfred whispered as the shouts died down, his arms still holding Romano close.

"You'll be seeing me right after this stupid party." Romano promised, connecting their lips once more.

"Well shit," Alfred murmured. "Good thing I cleaned my house."

 

And with that, they welcomed in the new year, Romano and Alfred getting a head start on their resolutions.

**Author's Note:**

> And then they go on cute museum dates and visit the three remaining states and Rome together. Alfred still does not beat Mattie at hockey, but he did beat him in getting a serious relationship with Romano while Matt and Francis waited a few more days.
> 
> I can't think of anything else to tell ya'll at the moment besides I hoped you enjoyed this 'lil one shot and expect more stories soon!


End file.
